My family has been ordering marble cakes from Beverly's for the past five years, so this experience…read morewas especially disappointing.
When I placed my order for an 8-inch, four-layer marble cake, I requested our usual combination of fudge and Bavarian cream fillings. The employee insisted they no longer allow two different fillings in one cake. I questioned this several times, even offering to pay extra, but was repeatedly told it wasn't possible.
For the decoration, I requested vanilla buttercream, no fondant, "Happy Spooky Season" written on top, and a few simple Halloween accents, such as pumpkins or spiderwebs. I left the smaller decorative details up to them.
When I arrived, the entire cake was covered in dark purple frosting. I'll acknowledge that I hadn't explicitly requested white frosting, but I certainly wasn't expecting the entire cake to be purple. My family and I strongly dislike heavily colored frosting because we can taste the food coloring. I had intended to leave the bakery some freedom with the decorative accents, not necessarily the entire color scheme.
Since the bakery was closing, they couldn't redo the frosting, which I understood. I explained that I was taking the cake all the way back to the Bay Area and asked for some plain white buttercream so I could fix it myself at home.
The employee provided four small condiment-sized containers of frosting. When I asked whether I could have a little more, she insisted that the amount would be enough. To be fair, after removing the purple frosting and refrosting the cake myself, the four containers did turn out to be just enough. I want to acknowledge that she was correct about the quantity. However, I still found the interaction frustrating, especially because I was already taking on the work of correcting the cake myself and had simply requested a little extra frosting for reassurance.
Another disappointing issue was the packaging. The cake was too tall for the box, so the top of the box had been cut away, leaving the cake completely exposed. When I expressed concern and asked for a way to cover it, plastic wrap was placed directly over the decorated frosting. I was surprised that an established custom bakery didn't have a more suitable way to package a tall cake. Even for a normal car ride, I would expect a cake to be properly enclosed and protected.
To make matters worse, I noticed they were selling slices of marble cake with both fudge and Bavarian cream fillings--the exact combination I had requested! When I asked about it, the employee initially said it wasn't possible, then eventually acknowledged that the combination could be ordered, but that I needed to know whom to speak with.
How is a customer supposed to know which employee can correctly explain the bakery's own options?
I also want to be fair about the cake itself. Once we finally cut into it, the cake tasted good, and the fudge filling was generous. My disappointment wasn't that the bakery made a bad-tasting cake. It was the overall experience of ordering, picking it up, and having to fix the appearance myself.
This wasn't simply a misunderstanding about frosting color. It was a series of frustrating interactions, inconsistent information, and disappointing customer service. My sister, who previously handled most of our family's orders, has also mentioned having problems with the ordering process.
After years of being customers, I expected better communication, more thoughtful packaging, and a more helpful response when something went wrong. Unfortunately, this experience has made me reluctant to order from Beverly's again.